Sweetgreen, you see, tries to sell health. In a world obsessed with fleeting pleasures and questionable life choices, this is… ambitious. They’re in the restaurant business, which is mostly about making people feel good for ten minutes before they remember their problems. So it goes.
Chipotle and Cava also offer things grown from the earth, more or less. But Sweetgreen insists on a certain… earnestness. They’ve even dabbled in robots, thinking automation could solve the fundamental human problem of wanting things done for them. A noble, if misguided, effort.
The stock, though. The stock is another story. It opened at $28 a share a while back. Now? Let’s just say it’s learned a thing or two about gravity. The question isn’t whether it’s a bad stock. It’s whether it’s a cautionary tale about the inherent absurdity of trying to profit from lettuce.
The State of Things
On the surface, Sweetgreen looks…fine. People like salads. They like bowls. They’re vaguely aware that vegetables are probably good for them. The company planned to open a few more stores. They had 266 already. More stores. It’s a system. A perfectly predictable system.
Revenue crept up 2% over the last nine months. Two percent. That’s…something. But same-store sales went down 7%. Down. Like a lead balloon filled with organic kale. And operating expenses? They went up. Of course they did. Everything always costs more than you think it will. So it goes.
They lost $84 million. Eighty-four million dollars. That’s a lot of salads. More than last year, too. They lost $61 million last year. It’s a trend. A perfectly consistent, downward trend.
They’re slowing down the store openings. Twenty new stores next year. That’s…sensible. They’re also selling their robot division, Spyce. They’ll get $100 million for it. A tidy sum. They’re keeping the licensing, though. Just in case the robots rise again.
The stock is down 80% over the last year. It trades at 1.2 times sales. Chipotle is at 4.5. Cava is at 7.2. Numbers. Just numbers. Meaningless, really. Unless you’re a spreadsheet. So it goes.
A low price-to-sales ratio could mean it’s a bargain. Or it could mean everyone realizes it’s a sinking ship. It’s difficult to say. And, truthfully, it doesn’t much matter in the grand scheme of things.
Can Sweetgreen Deliver?
The prospects for “durable shareholder returns” are, shall we say, uncertain. They’re trying to attract customers. They’re trying to save money. But sales are down, and expenses are up. It’s a classic setup. A perfectly predictable pattern. So it goes.
They have cash. That buys them time. Time to figure things out. Time to delay the inevitable. The low price-to-sales ratio makes it attractive to those who enjoy a bit of risk. Those who believe in the power of a well-dressed salad.
But let’s be clear. This is a speculative play. A gamble. Unless Sweetgreen starts showing signs of growth and profitability, it’s a stock most investors should avoid. It’s a perfectly reasonable course of action. A sensible decision in an increasingly senseless world. So it goes.
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2026-01-24 19:52